Since 2014, seven literary organisations and professionals from six European countries have joined forces to set up the unique talent development project CELA. We found each other in our shared concerns about the growing gaps in the literary sector: between literary talents, the industry and the European public. We share the need to build a sustainable talent development infrastructure to maintain diversity in European literature and offer small languages a bigger opportunity: CELA improves the sound of continental voices in a choir dominated by large singers. We believe it is necessary to give literary talents the professional boost they need to become successful in the world of tomorrow.

The first edition of CELA started in 2017 and runs for two years. In the first year, the seven innovative organisations guided the authors, translators and literary professionals, and offered them a multi-country programme of training and masterclasses to prepare them for working on the European market and for an international public. In 2018 and 2019, the participants are launched through international campaigns, a European festival tour and networking and connecting by well-known writers and literary organisations. ​In the long term, CELA will become a crucial step in the literary talent development infrastructure in Europe, maintaining a cultural diverse offer of literature for the European audience.

WHAT​​CELA is a unique programme, it gathers literary talents in various fields – from writing, to translating, to editing – to develop the careers of tomorrow’s internationally acknowledged authors and translators. CELA invests in a literary talent development infrastructure that bridges the gaps between literary talents, the publishing industry and the European public.

WHY​​The purpose of CELA is to offer European context to a new generation of literary creators, to enable intensive cooperation between talented European writers, and to improve the sound of continental voices in a choir dominated by large singers. Click here to read more about CELA.

"During my CELA residency, in a city I don’t know and whose language I don’t speak,I’ve often turned to speak to a CELA companion from another countryand Italian came out. I yielded the heart: I got caught in the story."

CELA-writer Livia Franchini

Dutch literary production company focusing on talent development, publishing and impact.

Portugal’s main organiser of literary and cultural events and leading provider of training for the Portuguese publishing industry.

Romania’s only free online platform dedicated to the Romanian cinema.

Creative writing academy in Spain and founding member of the European Association of Creative Writing Programmes (EACWP).

Organisation presenting the beauty and wisdom of the Low Countries, based in Brussels.

The international house of literature in the heart of Brussels, focusing on talent development of writers and translators.

The leading Italian book fair for independent publishing held annually in Pisa, Tuscany.